ITX CPU cooler advice for the tightfisted and cackhanded

HarryBizzle · 22 Jul 2023 at 08:47

I upgraded my PC yesterday and thought I would see how things go with the stock 12400f Intel cooler. I ran cinebench and it sounds like a small travel hairdryer my wife has, so it needs to go.

My issues are, I think, 3:

1. I’m tight
2. I don’t have much space to work with - my case is an NR200 (pic below - please excuse cable mess, I just plugged it in to check all was working before I go to town on the cable management.
3. I am a bit rubbish and want something easy to install.

I’ve seen that the be quiet! Pure Rock 2 Slim is quite small so should definitely fit, and I think I should be able to fit it without removing the motherboard from the case? It’s about £25 on OCUK.

Is there anything else I should be considering?

Also, which way should I fit it? Most of the NR200 builds I have seen have the fan mounted near the PSU, blowing air over the heatsink and towards the IO shield. My fans in the top of the case are set to exhaust, but can obviously change those if need be.

Thanks in advance.

HarryBizzle · 23 Jul 2023 at 12:07

Thanks. I think the pure rock slim should be ok as it doesn't overhang the socket very much:

I think either fan towards GPU or PSU should fit ok

HarryBizzle · 23 Jul 2023 at 13:28

Gary* said:
I use an NH L9i and I'm more than happy with it, it's quiet and keeps the CPU nice and cool, just what you want I guess

The pure rock is about half the price, I think:

be quiet! Pure Rock Slim 2 CPU Cooler - 92mm

Order be quiet! Pure Rock Slim 2 CPU Cooler - 92mm now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

Will check out how they compare, but have already spent too much on this upgrade and this is supposedly going to be the last bit so cheaper the better. This seems to review welll.

HarryBizzle · 25 Jul 2023 at 19:14

Thanks. Have gone for the Be Quiet, though. Dispatched today from OCUK so will hopefully get it fitted this week. It's smaller than what I can probably get away with, but I'm fine with that. It's only a 65W chip and apparently nice and quiet even at 100%.

HarryBizzle · 26 Jul 2023 at 11:10

Ordered yesterday, arrived today.

Stock cooler:

Pure Rock 2 Slim:

Massive reduction in temps and noise and this was at 50% fan speed! It's silent. All I can hear from my PC is the noise of the NR200 case fans.